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Treyarch Explains How It Incorporated Player Feedback From The Black Ops III Beta
When a beta test occurs, many players like to use it as an early sneak peek of a game that will be releasing in the coming months. For developers, however, alpha and beta tests serve a very real purpose in helping them to fine-tune the experience and gather feedback from some of the most passionate fans. With the Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer beta now several weeks in the rear-view mirror, Treyarch game design director David Vonderhaar took to the PlayStation Blog to share some of the changes that have been made in the time since the test.
According to Vonderhaar, several players voiced concerns regarding how powerful the game's Black Hat equipment, which allows you to hack scorestreaks and enemy equipment, was. To address this, Treyarch has implemented a new hacking mechanic that scales the length of time it takes to hack enemy equipment and scorestreaks to how close you are to that enemy and how precise you are with aiming the equipment. The time it takes to hack has also been adjusted to take longer, and the hacker is now pointed out on the minimap during the hack, making it easier for the targeted player to counter the attack.
Similar concerns were voiced about Rejack, one of the Specialists' abilities, which allows Nomad to revive himself when killed. Some players were upset that Rejack stole a kill away from them, and that it allowed for stacking of scorestreaks. To fix these complaints, Treyarch is making it so that Rejack does not prevent a kill going in the "kill" column of the one who guns down Nomad, meaning that players receive credit for the kill immediately. Also, when players use Rejack to revive themselves, their scorestreak resets.
There are several other changes being implemented into the final game thanks to feedback collected from the beta test. If you'd like to learn more about what those changes are, you can head to the PlayStation Blog and read David Vonderhaar's full post. Call of Duty: Black Ops III releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on November 6. Those who are wanting to see more footage of the game are in luck, as Activision and Treyarch are showing off new footage every Friday starting this week at 3 p.m. Eastern / 12 p.m. Pacific on the official Call of Duty YouTube channel.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
Our Take
We know that beta tests always yield a large amount of feedback and data for developers (particularly triple-A developers), but it's refreshing to see the changes laid out by the developer in this manner. I've had the chance to play several hours of Black Ops III and am looking forward to seeing how these new changes affect the final game.
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